Tools for Promoting Local Purchasing & Farm to School Activities:
Model Wellness Policy Language for Schools

Farm to School: A Tool for Achieving School Health & Nutrition Goals

Nationwide, schools are turning to farm to school programs to improve the quality of
school meals and the effectiveness of nutrition education. Farm to school programs
offer four elements:

Purchase of farm products from local farmers1 for inclusion in school meal
programs and other food sales

Agriculture and nutrition education in the classroom as part of
existing standards-based curricula

School gardens, where children can learn to eat what they grow and link
their experience to tangible lessons in science, math, and other disciplines

Hands-on experiential education programs, such as visits to farms
and farmers' markets

These programs offer more than great tasting farm-fresh products; they provide
hands-on educational experiences to connect children with the source of their
food. Because farm to school programs are multi-faceted, linking nutrition
education with the classroom, the lunchroom, the school garden and local farmers,
they benefit not only the students, but provide a win-win-win for schools,
farmers and the community:

School Food Service can benefit through increased student participation rates.
The inclusion of farm fresh products in school meals has been shown, in some instances,
to increase the number of students that will participate in the school meal programs.

Students benefit from a closer connection with their food and agriculture.
Research on nutrition education methods increasingly suggests that there is a link
between long-term healthy eating behaviors and experiential learning that begins
early in life. The more a child is involved with food - either through gardening,
farming, cooking or other "real life" food experiences -- the more likely it is
that he or she will adopt healthy eating behaviors as a lifelong practice. Purchasing
local food affords schools a tremendous opportunity to generate and reinforce these
kinds of learning experiences.

Farmers benefit from increased sales opportunities. Farmers are always
looking for more nearby, higher value markets that give them higher profit margins.
Schools can provide a steady, predictable market for much of the year. This allows
farmers to establish better controls on planting, harvesting and marketing.

Communities benefit from more locally-based agricultural marketing. Procuring
products from local farms helps keep community dollars in the local economy. Healthy
farms provide jobs, pay taxes, and keep working agricultural land open. Undeveloped
farm land can also benefit the region by maintaining open space and diversified
wildlife habitat.

Farm to School: Linking to Policy

The Reauthorization of the Child Nutrition programs in 2004 included a prevision
that requires each educational agency participating in a federal school meal program
to establish a local school wellness policy, which must be in place for the 2006-2007
school year (Public Law 108-265 Section 204). The law requires that these policies
must, at a minimum:

I. Set goals for nutrition education, physical activity, and other school-based
activities that promote student wellness.
II. Establish nutrition guideline for all foods available on campus during the school day.
III. Assure that guidelines for school meals are not less restrictive than those set at
the federal level by the Secretary of Agriculture.
IV. Establish a plan for measuring the impact and implementation of the local wellness policy.
V. Involve parents, students, representatives of the school authority, the school board, school
administrators, and the public in development of the local wellness policy.

Organizing in Your School District -- Using This Policy

This resource was developed to help promote policies that support local purchasing and
other farm to school activities as part of the school district's wellness policy. The
policies were designed for you to pick those that make the most sense for your district.
The policies can be used individually or as whole sections, depending on what is desired
for the district. Pursing farm to school strategies is only one step toward creating a
healthy school environment, and the language below is intended to be only a part of a
comprehensive policy that addresses a school's many needs. Please refer to the resources
section for information on additional tools to help your school develop a comprehensive
wellness policy.

STEP 1 - Find out if the school district is already implementing any of the
elements of a farm to school program. Figuring out the lay of the land will help to
identify what policies make the most sense for the district.

STEP 2 - Inquire if the district has made any progress in developing a school
food or wellness policy. One place to start is the district superintendent's office.
In the process of this fact-finding, opportunities will arise to meet school personnel
and others that will most likely be involved in drafting a wellness policy. If they
have not yet started to develop a policy, use the policy ideas mentioned below to help
start the conversation.

STEP 3 - Play an active role in the development of the wellness policies.
If the process is already underway, become part of the planning group. If no such
entity exists, help bring together the important players from the school and the
community - including school administrators, food service staff, teachers, parents,
students, and community representatives. Use the policy ideas mentioned here to help
start the conversation.

Nutrition education messages from the classroom will be modeled in the cafeteria
and across campus by offering locally-grown food whenever possible within the
reimbursable federal meal program as well as a la carte sales, including vending machines.

School food service, in partnership with other school departments and community
organizations, will work to creatively market and promote locally-produced food to students,
through activities such as:

Featuring food grown in the school garden in the cafeteria through sampling
and inclusion in school meals based upon availability and acceptability.

Develop cafeteria themes relating to local farmers and products grown in
the region.

The district recognizes that school gardens and farm visits can offer physical
activity opportunities, as well as agricultural education, by engaging students in activities
such as planting, harvesting, and weeding. Teachers and students are encouraged to take
advantage of these physical activity opportunities during the school day as well as through
field trips and after-school activities.

Wellness Policy Requirement II:Establish nutrition guideline for all foods
available on campus during school day

These two suggested bullets are meant to enhance broader nutrition guidelines that
increase children's consumption of fruits and vegetables, whole grains, and
other healthy foods.

Meals served within the federally reimbursable meal program will be designed to
feature fruits and vegetables and other healthy foods from local sources to the
greatest extent possible.

Schools are encouraged to offer locally grown food at every location on the
school site where food is sold and in all school-sponsored events and activities.

Wellness Policy Requirement III:Assure that guidelines for school meals
are not less restrictive than those set at the federal level by the Secretary of
Agriculture

The School Food Services Director will review this policy and ensure that the
policies are not less restrictive than those set by the Secretary of Agriculture
or state law.

Wellness Policy Requirement IV:Establish a plan for measuring the impact
and implementation of the local wellness policy

Evaluation of farm to school programs should include the effects of including locally
sourced farm products in the school meal programs as well as the effects of any
in-class or experiential education programs. The nutrition and financial aspects
should be evaluated, as well as the knowledge gained as a result of the overall farm
to school program. Some possible indicators/methods include:

the percentage of food purchased from local sources;

the budgetary impact of increasing local purchases;

the impact local purchasing on participation in the school meal programs;

and pre and post studies on what students have learned about healthy eating.

Wellness Policy Requirement V:Involve parents, students, representatives
of the school authority, the school board, school administrators, and the public in
development of the local wellness policy

In addition to diverse district and community representatives, there are significant
benefits to involving members of the farming community when developing school wellness
policies around farm to school. Farmers, representatives from organizations that
represent farmers, agricultural industry representatives, can provide information on
what is in season when, what plants would work well in a school garden, menu
development around regional products, and how to work with farmers' in a mutually
beneficial way.

The wellness policy committee should involve parents, students, representatives
of the school authority, the school board, school administrators, and the public
in development of the local wellness policy. Representatives from the local
agricultural community and food and nutrition professionals could be key members of
the committee. They may be: farmers, representatives from organizations that
represent farmers, farmers' market representatives, agricultural industry
representatives, representatives from community organizations that work to promote
local foods, local public health professionals, chefs, nutritionists or health educators.

A team of district and community representatives will be established to support
the food service director and teachers in implementing local purchasing and other
farm to school activities on an on going basis.

1 Definitions of local vary regionally. It may mean within the state or
within the county or another definition, depending upon availability. Schools are
encouraged to develop their own definitions as appropriate.